BetterPost - Good journalism on social media

More than half of all people use social media to keep up to date with news. But journalism on social media is a whole different beast from traditional media: Clicks, likes, shares, and dwell time have become common currency on social platforms, which all too often results in indiscriminate posts intended just to generate and hold readers’ attention. 
It is not at all uncommon for the media to perpetuate racist stereotypes and narratives with their choice of words and images in their reporting, not least in their coverage of marginalized groups and socio-political topics like refugees or immigration. This is exactly where the BetterPost project comes in.

BetterPost aims to promote journalism on social media and to rid comment sections of hate. Workshops will be held to raise awareness of anti-racist reporting among media professionals across Germany. Analyses uncover connections between reporting and racist comments to identify potential for hate. Rather than making accusations, BetterPost engages in dialogue with media companies to offer solutions. Platform algorithms are also taken into account. The goal is non-discriminatory reporting that supports a diverse, democratic culture of debate and promotes social participation.

The project will first generate knowledge about the relationship between the language used by newsrooms in social media posts and the racism found in the comments. Building on this, the project offers advice and workshops to empower social media creators to practice anti-racist journalism on social media.
BetterPost is a project of the new German media makers within the Competence Network against Hate on the Internet. The Competence Network is a contact point for questions about hate on the internet.